Pincott, 55, and Martin Edwards, 43, are both charged with trying to drown Leanne Ware in February

Leanne Ware, 31, who was rescued from the River Taff by hero soldier captain Mark Gold

A man accused of trying to drown a woman in the River Taff told police tennis elbow meant he could not have taken part in the attack.

Gary Pincott, 55, was charged with attempted murder alongside Martin Edwards, 43, after witnesses said they saw the pair rolling 31-year-old Leanne Ware’s seemingly lifeless body into the river in February this year.

A passing army captain said he saw her lying in the foetal position, not defending herself, as she was kicked into the river by Pincott and Edwards.

He said he rang 999 and saw Pincott run past to escape, before he had to fight Edwards off while trying to save Leanne’s body from the freezing waters.

Hero soldier captain Mark Gold, 43, was walking with his wife and three children when he saw Leanne Ware, 31, being drowned in the river

But Cardiff Crown Court heard how Pincott told police he had no part in the attack, and had in fact been trying to intervene in a fight between Edwards and his partner.

When interviewed by police the day after the alleged assault he said he had tennis elbow, metal plates in his ankle and a cracked hip which meant he could not have pushed her in the water.

He said Edwards had acted alone, swinging Leanne round by the hair before “launching” her into the canal after the two began fighting.

In his police interview Pincott said he had bumped into Leanne the night before, on February 15, after she was thrown out of two homeless shelters she was staying at with Edwards, her partner.

He said the pair had been “fighting like cats and dogs” in the days before she was hauled out of the river unconscious by rescuers, her skin having turned blue in the freezing water.

He spent the night drinking cider and sleeping rough in a cark park with Leanne near the Holiday Inn on Castle Street before Edwards ran into them the next day and the three went to the Taff embankment near the Penarth Road bridge so they could avoid police who might pour their alcohol away.

They continued drinking there, where Pincott said Edwards told his partner to “wind your neck in” after the pair clashed and he called her a “slag” and a “dirty stop-out”.

He said Edwards had punched, slapped and kicked her before adding: “I’m warning you now – you’re going in that drink.”

After he allegedly threw her in the water Pincott said: “He was hell-bent on leaving her in that water. I said get her out of the water. He said ‘No, f*** the b****. Leave her in the water. Let the b**** drown.’”

The jury also heard Edwards’ interview with police after his arrest, in which he denied Pincott or he had forced Leanne into the river.

Instead, he said, Leanne was an “attention seeker” who had jumped in by herself after they fought.

He said they had been having “banter” before he turned his back and then realised she had jumped, before she started treading water by herself.

He said it was two or three minutes until he grew worried that she might be in difficulty, and so decided to jump in and try to pull her body to the shore where rescuers were waiting.

He said he had earlier jumped from the bridge to have a swim in the water, which was ice cold, and so assumed she would be ok without his help so left her.

He said the quarrel they had beforehand was nothing serious, adding: “I ragged her around a bit – you know, ‘Get off me’. I grabbed her by the hair a bit. Simple.”

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